We just learned today that Vogel Appliance Service received the Angie's List Super Service Award [again] for 2014. This award is only given to the top 5% of companies in a particular category. Thank you, Indianapolis, for rating us with A's! Special badge coming soon...

Check out these awesome retro ranges I saw at the Habitat ReStore in Indianapolis this weekend. The prices were great, so if you're looking for a retro range, you might see if they're still there!

This is a 1980's Whirlpool gas range, 36 inches wide, with four burners, a middle griddle and two storage cabinets. It's a great option for someone with an older home with a 36 inch space to fill. This beauty is extremely reliable with very few moving parts (read: not a lot of reasons to call an appliance repair company). It will even work if the electricity goes out!

This is a 1970's electric range with two ovens, one on bottom and one on top. It has lots of really clean chrome. Perfect for someone who likes to bake - especially cookies before their favorite appliance repair guys comes for a visit.

We wrote an article for the Angie's List magazine with tips on how to "Get the most out of your appliances," featuring the refrigerator, freezer and dishwasher. Mention the Angie's List article when you schedule your appointment during the month of February and we'll knock $5 off your service call (regular service call charge is $65).

I need to provide a disclaimer along with this appliance tip. I would never, ever recommend that someone use their oven to heat their home. That is unsafe and inefficient. However, now is a great time to think about using the self-clean feature of your oven. Self-clean uses temperatures up to 900-1000 degrees Fahrenheit and some of that heat permeates the appliance. We made the mistake of using self-clean on our oven at home last August. The first floor of our house became unbearably hot. Of course, the thermostat is on the first floor so the air conditioner started running constantly, and would have continued for the entire 3-hour process had we not turned it off in order to save a little electricity. That’s when we made the mental note to run self-clean when the winter temps got below freezing. Now our oven is clean and our furnace had a little break from the cold Indiana winter.

We’ve had no shortage of ice and snow this winter, so much so that many of us have seen damage-causing ice dams in our gutters and drains. One other place to look for pesky ice and snow is around your dryer vent. When your dryer releases all that warm air into the great outdoors, it also creates moisture that may re-freeze on and around your vent. If your vent is iced over, the dryer won’t have proper air flow, causing it be be inefficient. You can simply knock the ice off the vent area and make sure the louvers open freely. Of course, there are many causes of poor air flow with dryers. Trust me, I’ve seen a lot of ‘em – underwear, underwires, pillow stuffing, critters, critter nests…. If that’s the case, it may be a job for a professional.